“The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.” Elizabeth Hardwick

#BookReview My Gita by @devduttmyth

28Dec

Devdutt Pattanaik is a facinating storyteller and that is why each and every release of his is launched amidst great excitement and fanfare. One of the reasons of liking him is because he very lucidly explains these lil notions tucked in the remotest part of history, shrouded by myth, sometimes by mithya without a propaganda.

Once in a while a book comes along which makes you come out of your hibernation, overcoming your writers block and how! My Gita has been a treat to read. I’ve always attempted to read Gita in its original grandeur but felt my interest wavering but with his smooth storytelling, Devdutt has managed to hold the interest and inform and educate us like always.

What works for this book is that it is not a verse by verse of chapter wise translation. Instead it encapsulates the theme in a easily comprehensive manner which is engaging to read. The part where Krishna advises Arjuna has been kept untouched which truly kept with the spirit of the book and the author’s own interpretation makes you rethink portions which otherwise would have been left unanswered.

It is hard to miss how the author visibly stays clear of any controversy knowing how much our country is sentimental about all that it has held close to it, hence ‘ My Gita’ is purely the author’s own reading of the holy book.

Must must pick this up, as this truly has been a great journey from myth to philosophy. One that will surely leave you thinking and craving for more.